I'm about to eat my words.......

A

Abominable No-Man

New member
In past threads, I have soundly stated that I am not an AR-15/M16 fan: I hope I have been able to do this without bashing
the gun too much or sticking my foot in my mouth too many times,
because (brace yourselves), the Abominable No-Man, probably
the last die-hard, swear-by-the-M14-and-swear-at-everything-
else schmuck is about to experiment with his own, non-USGI -
issued AR-pattern rifle.

Went out with an a**hole buddy of mine the other day and fired
several dozen rounds through his pre-ban Colt HBAR and his
brand-new Bushmaster (Yes, I brought the M14).

Magazine 1-
Found myself thinking "this can't be an AR- the trigger is nice".
Magazine 2-
Found myself thinking "this can't be an AR- it hasn't jammed yet."
Magazine 3-
Found myself thinking "this can't be an AR- it's........"
Magazine 4-
Found myself thinking "where's the next mag?"

So after a bit of soul-searching, a few tears shed over my own
frustration in not being able to reconcile the juxtapostion of
associations (IOW, "USGovt.riflesalwayssuckedandjammedand
wereapaintocleanandIneverlikedthembutthisoneshootsniceand
isaccurateanddoesn'tjamordoublefeedandlookattheraggedholeinthemiddleofthetarget......OVERLOAD!OVERLOAD!), and a smug grin
on my buddy's face that said "I told you so", I have decided to
(shudder, gulp) build up my own AR-15.

So, I turn to you, gentle readers, in the hopes that
a) you won't hold my former words against me too much, and
b) since I've never paid much attention to any AR outside of the
military, who do I go to for quality AR parts? Has anyone
ever built up an AR before?

Help, please!

Humbly eating my words....

ANM
 
Why not have both or all? It's the only sensible thing to do. An FAL should be next. That's MY long range strategic plan.
 
Ah, another one comes to the fold. For building up a quality rifle remember two words, Bush and Master. There are others out there that will do wonders, but Bushmaster is usally the "best" parts maker.

Research AR-15.com for info, theres a lot of good stuff there - just don't get lost in the accompanying garbage.

And lastly - don't give up your M-14! Its still a great rifle, your expansion of knowledge, ability, and weapons collection with the AR's will not change that.
 
Bushmaster

Again. Just for the major parts like upper, lower and stocks and misc parts not listed below.

For a barrel, get a Bushmaster if you want reliability and USGI durability. For utmost accuracy, go elsewhere. Compass Lake comes to mind and a Kreiger is tops. Getting it chrome plated might be difficult ;). Most Bushies can be had with mil-spec chrome.

Sights? Go with the 0.052" target blade and 1/2 MOA rear. The 1/4" if CMP is your forte. Smith is the brand that comes to mind but there are others.

Trigger? Go with Jewell for CMP, JP if not. If its not brand-name, forget it here. Expect to pay at least 125 here.

Free float tube? Compass Lake has good ones but they are all carbon/alloy steel. Merchant has a nice stainless model but you will need a special tool. Its also the most difficult to install BUT it uses the stock gas tube. I like the stainless because I need not worry about corrosion and its a good heat reflector/insulator. Its also the heaviest.

Mags? USGI, green followers on the 30's and the metal followers on the 20's. Inspect before buying for damage/finish. You can replace the guts.


If you use the above, even with a 1:7 chromie, keeping under an inch at 100 is a cakewalk. Keeping under 2 at 300 is standard with good loads.

As far as cleaning, its an ammo problem. I've fired 1000 rounds of my reloads without any cleaning or lubrication. Good ammo will keep it that way.

You shouldn't need to clean after every outing unless you burn 1500 rounds a setting. I only clean every 500 rounds. Rifle cleaning is done way too much considering modern non-corrosive ammo.
 
Ill second the recommendation for www.ar15.com. There is more information there than you know what to do with. There are many helpful folks on the forums who can answer your questions. As with any internet hangout, it has its share of trolls and a-holes, but it is still the best place out there for information on "the black rifle".
 
Good for you. Glad to see another ARer around. Members posting before me has excellent suggestions, ideas for you to follow.
About the only thing I can add is, on new BMs, use good oil on carrier for the first one or 2 thousand round. It will make it go more smoothly on breakin.
Have used 3 BM lowers as basis for my ARs kit build up. Also barrels from BM are the tops, Accept nothing less.
 
I am right there with you big guy, if I could own only one it would be the M1A/M-14. I never liked the AR rifles or the cartridge until I carried it for a few years, NEVER had a failure with an issue weapon, even with blanks on a 30 day field problem. I have seen some serious problems with parts guns so choose carefuly and find someone who knows how to part them together properly. I would try to avoid the match barrels (chambers) if you want 100% reliability, I have never seen a tight chamber gun that was 100%. The more I think about it, the more I wish I had a 1 in 9 twist, it's a better compromise for 55-69 gr bullets.
 
Welcome to the otherside!

I love it when "we" challenge our own opinions and are forced through experience to accept a new reality. Welcome to the otherside! its okay to change your mind (women do it all the time).
I like the AR too but didn't always. I however went through the same admonition of wrongness and acceptance many years ago over a different much maligned weapon. Since the day I came to accept Gaston Glock I have known peace.

MY Armalite M15 is similiar to the Bushmaster Dissipator. It's a nice gun that I am happy with. The Guru Sayeth practice acceptance and multiculturalism (translation: buy all types o guns). :D
 
I was like you once. Never thought I would ever get anything in .223Rem as I felt the .22-250 was much better and the lowest i'd ever go in caliber. And, I didn't like the idea of the direct gas impingement of the AR action. The gun was just too light as compared to my .308Win military patterned rifles.

Then one day at a gun show, I got ahold of a built up CMP AR. That was the heaviest AR I had ever picked up. I liked it, but not enough to go buy one off the bat. Did a little not so serious searching on ARs and AR manufacturers. Apparently, there are some ARs built by the regular manufacturers that'll do ½ MOA out of the box. THAT accuracy is for me, a part time varmint hunter.

Then I took a CMP clinic a few weeks ago. Despite at poopload of biting Asian Lady Beetles at the 200 yd counter balanced targets (using reduced targets to simulate 300 yds), it was a blast. (Everybody had their turn at the barrel marking targets and swatting bugs.) Plus I guess I did OK (432-3X) using two other peoples ARs (first time I've ever shot an AR and I prefer centerhold instead of 6:00) and it was my first CMP-type drill. That one AR I was using, though, had a bad glare through the peep and made the front post difficult to see. It was an Armalite and the recoil spring had a loud goofy pogo stick spring sound after each round fired. (Sun was overhead in front.) I was hooked.

I have now a DPMS Panther Extreme on order for varmint/target hunting (to be topped with a Burris Black Diamond, wanted to try something different thatn the regular Leupold) and this past Saturday ordered Bushmaster's DCM gun.

Yes building an AR is probably cheaper but I have no experience with them other than shooting the two a few weeks ago.

Oh, all of this occurred in the span of a month and a half.
 
I hate the PRK!

I wish I would have bought a lower and just registered it why I had the chance. Now I can't have one at all! What horror it is living out here.
 
El Rojo,
Still The DOJ letter outlining your legal possesion of the weapon and subsequent sugestions on removing it from the state, rendering it inoperable, or surrendering it, blows chunks too. It's also quite infuriating but at least I'm legal.
 
Keith J basically spelled it all out there for you. i will have to say though that from what i've heard through the service rifle/CMP grapevine is that armalite is the best company to go to for parts. don't get me wrong, the bushmasters are great too. you can buy complete AR's from either armalite or bushmaster that are extremely accurate right out of the box. brownells is a catalog that also has a plethora of AR parts. they can be a little pricy, but they have good customer service, and they only stock the best stuff. personally, i'm still building on my AR, and i'll tell you, one of the best first things you can do to enhance accuracy is to put a free float tube on it. as far as barrels go, a 1-7 will work great, but the Army actually sat down when they were building their M-16's for CMP competition and found that a 1-7.775 is the optimal twist for 69 and 80 gr bullets. however, as far as i know, only one barrel maker offers this twist, and it's about a $350 barrel, but you won't be disappointed in it. good luck!
 
But did you clean it? That's the worst part of AR ownership, IMO.
Click to expand...
No kidding! My Colt has more nooks and crannies than an english muffin. Not that it can't run dirty, I just get obsessed with cleaning it to perfection whenever I shoot the thing.
 
I'm still waiting on my first malfunction

Coming up on passing 2,000 rounds through my Bushmaster and am still waiting for some sort of malfunction. All the AR haters promised me I would have one "soon." Damn thing just keeps on gobbling up ammo and I can't practice any of my failure to fire drills. If this keeps up I'm going to have to get me some dummy ammo.

Good Luck and have fun.
jack
 
A.N.M. glad you like the mousegun, me too. Gotta hava AR. You'll find shooting both rifles fun. I like to warm up with AR go to M1A and then rest with the AR. Rapid shot 30 rd. mags are really fun and don't knock the sheet out of you like .308s. But I still love em both.
 
check out this review:
http://www.gunblast.com/Bushmaster_Varminter.htm
Mvc-016f.jpg


The Bushmaster Varminter was able to group three shots into 1/4" at 100 yards with regularity using the super-accurate Barnes VLC bullets. The worst groups shot from the bench rest were 3/4" at 100 yards! The representative 1/4" group shown above (that's a DIME shown for comparison!) show the Varminter to be one seriously accurate rifle!
:cool:
 
re: AR

shot me an honest 1 hole group last Sat with a parts kit 16 bbl, am quite surprised since this is abso;utely a pig AR-used PMC-223. my only one so its abused to wring out imperfections. so far havent had one.
 
I have never been overly fond of the AR-10 or AR-15/M16, but today the straight GI M16A2 is not at all a bad rifle. With the ammo bugs worked out and cleaning now understood, it is very good. With an accuracy job, it is superb.

Of the AR series, I still prefer the AR-18/180, and think it would have made a better battle rifle, but of course it was never given the attention (and money) that was lavished on the M16.

Jim
 
re: basic AR stuff.....

I appreciate very much all the posts so far.

I have done a bit of looking around, and in addition to Bushmaster
(which seems to be the Big Name in AR15's, and with good reason), I have also run across a company called Rock River Arms,
with whose .45's I am familiar. They seem to make a good product, too, but aside from one other guy I know, no one had
any idea that they make AR parts (lowers).

My idea is to build up a standard M16A2-pattern (I like the longer
barrel and sight radius, although I don't know how much difference that will make with a .223 bullet) rifle, see how it goes,
and proceed from there. Also, I am curious as to a number of
other part manufacturers-

Model 1 Sales
American Spirit Arms
Rock River Arms

Are they any good?

Again, I apologize to any AR fans I may have pi**** off. To be fair,
I am a bit older, and most of my M16 experience has come from
boot-camp-issue clunkers (I am in aviation now, and have been
for some time- my issue weapons are Berettas and M60D's).

ANM
 
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